SWEDESBORO, N.J. — New Jersey’s summer of corporate downsizing isn’t over yet.
HelloFresh reportedly plans to shutter its South Jersey distribution center in Swedesboro, eliminating 374 jobs as the meal-kit company consolidates its fulfillment operations elsewhere.
The company filed a WARN notice with the New Jersey Department of Labor this week identifying November 17th as the effective date for the layoffs. HelloFresh says operations at the approximately 170,000-square-foot Commerce Boulevard facility will cease this fall.
“Following a review of our operational footprint, we have made the difficult decision to close our Swedesboro, N.J., distribution center,” a HelloFresh spokesperson explained, citing operational efficiency. The company said the facility’s work will be absorbed by its broader fulfillment network.
HelloFresh still maintains New Jersey distribution operations in Newark and Totowa, though the company hasn’t publicly specified where the Swedesboro workload will ultimately land. The company has also announced facility closures in Texas and Illinois over the past two years.
The South Jersey closure comes amid an increasingly ugly stretch for Garden State employment.
In July, Mars Wrigley announced plans to close its Newark headquarters and eliminate 307 jobs while investing $100 million in an expansion in Chicago. Samsung is moving its U.S. corporate headquarters from Englewood Cliffs to Plano, Texas, in a move affecting 739 New Jersey jobs. Other recently announced cuts include 322 positions at Novartis, 282 at Verizon, 173 at JPMorgan Chase in Jersey City and 139 at Gerresheimer’s Vineland facility.
New Jersey employers announced 2,440 layoffs in July alone, according to WARN data compiled by New Jersey 101.5.
State Senate Republican Leader Anthony Bucco (R-25) seized on the HelloFresh announcement Tuesday as further evidence that New Jersey’s notoriously expensive business environment is taking a toll.
“These are not isolated events,” Bucco said, pointing to the recent Mars, Samsung and other corporate announcements. “They are warning signs that Republicans have been pointing to for years.”
Bucco also blamed Trenton Democrats for continuing to increase the cost of operating in the state rather than making New Jersey more competitive.
The broader numbers aren’t encouraging.
A June analysis from Focus NJ examining eight high-profile corporate departures or lost expansions found that the decisions collectively represented more than 7,000 jobs, nearly $675 million in annual payroll and approximately $27.3 million in annual state income tax revenue over roughly the past decade.
HelloFresh isn’t completely leaving New Jersey — at least not yet.
But for 374 workers in Gloucester County, the distinction probably won’t provide much comfort.
